The present invention relates generally to methods and systems for extracting information from one or more documents and more specifically to methods and systems for extracting information from one or more document to create records, such as ancestral or genealogical records.
Records are often kept by individuals and organizations to track and/or store pieces of information. The information found in records is often obtained form various documents. For example, a company may maintain a database that includes a record of sales of one or more products. The sales information that is maintained in the database may be obtained from sales receipts of the products. Another common type of record that is created and/or maintained is ancestral or genealogical records where an individual stores information about themselves and/or family members. These records typically include relationship information between sub-records or individuals so that the individuals in the record are interconnected. These records may include other information as well, such as date of birth, date of death, date of marriage, city and/or state of residence, spouse, children, and other information.
The information is often obtained from various documents, such as birth certificates, death certificates, newspaper clippings, books, census records, immigration records, etc. The information maintained in these ancestral records is often manually entered into the record from one of these sources, such as by having an individual observe documents and manually input the information into the record. Inputting the information may include typing the information on a keyboard, printing the information by hand, and the like. Manually entering information into a record in this way is prone to several errors. For example, the person observing the information may incorrectly associate information, such as incorrectly associating familial relationship or misplacing/switching the date and month of an event. The information is also susceptible to spelling or grammar errors. Manually entering information for long periods may lead to fatigue, which may increases the likelihood of errors. In addition, the speed at which a record may be created is usually limited to the speed at which the person entering the information can type or print. For these and other reasons, there is a need in the art for improved ways to create records.